


Abnormalites

by BerryMaw



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Drug Use, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Drama, Family Issues, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Mary and Joseph are divorced, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of Cancer, Relationship Problems, Religious Conflict, Religious Content, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, honestly i'm just here to make joseph look like a decent human being, oh well, peacefully because they deserve it, these tags are gonna bother so many people lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-22 16:14:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11970993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BerryMaw/pseuds/BerryMaw
Summary: Joseph has been divorced for a few months when a new family moves into the neighborhood. Of course, everyone knows that his first instinct is to go and meet the adult in charge, being the first to welcome them to the neighborhood - it's important to him! But instead, he encounters another family member, and is instantly curious about what lies behind the doors of the Eaton household.[ Like always, shitty summary, hopefully semi-decent story. Please give it a shot. lmao ]





	1. Chapter 1

It had been four months, Joseph realized when he looked at the calendar above his desk, since he and Mary had finally split. Shortly after a graduation party for a neighbor's daughter, the two of them began to understand just how bad it was to stay together. There were only a few things that the previously married couple had agreed on when it came to the divorce. One, the kids would be with Joseph from Monday to Friday and Mary would bring them to church in the morning on Sunday. Two, they would split things evenly among each other. And the third thing was that they wanted to keep the kids as happy as possible. 

 

Joseph knew that Chris was the one who understood the most. He knew what a divorce really meant. He knew that mommy and daddy weren't like they used to be. He knew what Joseph had done and what Mary had done as well. Then there were the twins. Christian and Christie had to have some things explained to them, of course. They weren't happy that their mother wasn't going to be living with them anymore, but they understood why. And then there was Crish, who was nearing a year old and, luckily, wasn't old enough to comprehend everything going on.

 

But even though the kids got it as much as they could and were fairing decently, according to their psychologist, nothing got easier for Joseph. Along with the divorce, he still had to keep up with being both the pastor and local youth minister at the church, which meant there were constantly fundraisers to run and lessons to plan, along with sermons to write and others to help. He was a very busy man and sometimes, he knew that it meant he had to miss things that his children did. Just the other evening, he missed the school play that the twins were in and he still felt guilty.

 

However, it seemed that he had a rather slow day when he checked that all too important calendar. It was a Friday, and that meant that Mary would be picking them up from school and keeping them for the weekend. He had spent a late night writing his sermon out for Sunday and he had next Wednesday's youth group lesson plan finished, for once. All he had to do was clean the house, really.

 

So that was what he set about doing - throwing the clothes into the washer and moving what needed to be moved into the dryer, vacuuming what little carpet that was in the house, washing off the counters and putting the dishes into the dishwasher. He was frustrated when he realized that it was only around noon when he got done with the chores. With a little sigh, he leaned against the counter and rubbed the palms of his hands together.

 

But then, he remembered there was something he could do. About a block away was a house that had been bought. It was a surprise to many, as the house had been sitting empty for almost a full year, but he had seen moving vans at the house a few days ago and the 'for sale' sign had vanished from the lawn. It would be nice to have new neighbors around to keep him occupied. 

 

That meant that Joseph had to make something for them. Like usual, he just settled for a dozen cookies. Chocolate chip, as no one could turn a classic chocolate chip cookie down. Especially if it was made by him. Even he knew that if he wanted to, he could have the entirety of Maple Bay like putty in his hands with how incredible he was at baking. But he had no such need, so he simply gave out his sweets when they were wanted or needed.

 

It was about an hour before he was finally strolling down the sidewalk, glancing around at the houses he walked past. There was, of course, Hugo Vega's home, which was respectably kept, though he spotted the occasional cigarette fragment in the lawn. He chuckled softly to himself. He wondered when Hugo would finally get through to Ernest. And across the way was Brian Harding's home. What was once just a simple townhouse had been morphed a little with impressively built add-ons. There was no doubt that Daisy had helped with it all as well.

 

It kept his mind occupied, mentally re-marking where the others lived and what their homes looked like. He found that, lately, if he didn't have something to keep him mentally stimulated, he would lapse back into the arguments and court dates with Mary - the sound of her yelling and the tense feeling that entered his chest every single time he had to raise his voice to be heard over her. The sound of a wooden gavel hitting the podium when Mary decided it was fine to speak out of turn inside the courtroom.

 

Though, those thoughts luckily dissipated when he finally approached the once vacant home. It was quite a nice home, actually - gray siding with white trim and a darker gray roof. A long driveway and a decently-sized garage. When he walked up onto the porch, he smiled a bit to himself a rock wall that was a mixture of sand-colored and gray stones. Four white posts holding the roof over it and a little fence lining the porch. It was unfortunately bare otherwise.

 

He took a moment to compose himself before knocking on the clean, white door. On either side of the door were small and tall windows that were slightly blurry from his side. He imagined that on the inside of the home, one could easily see through it. He loved little details like that. They were what made a simple house a wonderful home.

 

Again, his thoughts were pushed aside when the door opened. He had expected a parent on a weekday, of course, but he was greeted by a young male who appeared to be in his teen years. The boy had a confused look on his face. "Hey."

 

"Hi, there!" Joseph kept a light grin, holding the plate of cookies with both hands, "I just came with a little 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift."

 

"Oh," the boy shook his head a little bit, a smile finally cracking on his face as he stepped aside, "come in."

 

Joseph easily passed the threshold and smiled a little more as the boy shut the door behind him. He followed the young male into the kitchen and looked around a bit more. Lighter, almost tan, wooden floors with closely matching cabinets. Updated appliances made of stainless steel, but they looked kind of worn. He wondered if they had belonged to the family before they moved in. There was an island crammed with stools and he imagined that was where they ate, as they didn't seem to have a dinner table.

 

"I'll take those from you, sir," the boy said awkwardly, extending his hands, "uh, I'm not great with others. Sorry. Do you want something to drink? We have water, coffee, milk...?"

 

"Oh, don't worry about it," Joseph waved him off, noticing how the male relaxed at his words, "I'll be just fine. Oh, I'm Joseph, by the way! I'm the pastor and youth group leader at the church."

 

"Ah, nice to meet you," there was a slightly awkward tone in his voice, but he extended his hand to Joseph, "I'm Luke."

 

"It's so nice to meet you, Luke." Joseph nodded.

 

There was a moment of awkward silence between them and in a way, it really didn't bother Joseph. He knew what it was like to be an uncomfortable teenage boy. He was actually there at one point in his life, many years ago. But, to break the ice and spare the kid uncomfortably, he asked a question.

 

"Aren't you supposed to be in school? It is Friday, you know."

 

Luke laughed a little, leaning against the counter near the stove, "I'm nineteen."

 

"Oh, that makes sense." Joseph chuckled a little bit and then, curiously, he asked, "What do you plan to do? College or something else?"

 

"Ah," Luke deflated a little, scratching the back of his head, "I, uh, actually dropped out... of high school... two years ago." 

 

"You look like quite the intelligent young man though." Joseph blinked, a little shocked.

 

There was another silence, but it was a little more tense than the previous one. Joseph took that moment to observe Luke. He watched silently as the teen turned to the cabinet behind him, grabbing a small white mug and going to the faucet. He saw on the other hand that he hadn't shook a few markings, which he quickly identified as tattoos. A letter on each of his fingers. He wondered what had spurred the boy to drop out.

 

"Well," Joseph shook his head, a little awkward himself, and then pulled a small paper from his pocket, "I need to go, unfortunately. However, I have a flyer here for this Sunday's sermon. It's open to outsiders. You're more than welcome."

 

"Thanks," Luke took it, unfolding it with his fingers that weren't wrapped around the mug, "but we're not religious. I'll talk to my mom, though."

 

"Alright, well," Joseph smiled, walking to the door and glancing back as Luke followed him, "I hope you have good rest of your day."

 

Luke held the door until Joseph stepped outside, then partially shut it, only pausing to say, "Yeah, you too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, honey, how did everything go today?" 

 

It actually took Luke a moment to look up and at his mother. He noticed that she seemed drained, the dark bags under her eyes a little more prominent than usual. He couldn't blame her. She worked as a nurse and wasn't home until very late hours sometimes. Today, she was home around two, which meant she only had about an hour and a half of peace before the others came home from school. His twin sister was upstairs, sleeping, like always. But she had an excuse to do nothing all day and night.

 

"Fine, I guess," Luke shrugged, flipping through his phone one last time before setting it down on the island counter and looking at her again, more attentive that time, "Lana's upstairs. Slept through someone knocking on our door."

 

"Who was it?" His mother asked curiously.

 

"His name was Joseph," he yawned a bit, leaning his head onto his hand, which was propped up by his elbow, "he left a plate of cookies and this."

 

His mother walked over and took the paper from him, looking at it quietly. Luke scratched at his chin, the stubble there itching a little bit. When he looked back to his mom, she was smiling a little.

 

"Maybe you and the others can go this Sunday." She suggested.

 

"Ugh, the last thing I want is to deal with a bunch of.... bible thumpers." Luke huffed.

 

"I still pray and study the bible," his mother said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes on him, "and that doesn't make me a bible thumper. I let you chose your religion. I'd bring them myself, but I work on Sunday. You know that."

 

"I know." He sighed a little.

 

"So, will you at least bring them in?" his mother asked, "Maybe give it a try yourself?"

 

"Alright, fine, I'll do both," Luke said, unable to say 'no' to the look on her exhausted face, "but I'm probably not gonna go again. You know that."

 

"Thank you, sweetheart," his mother ducked a little to kiss his forehead, "now, I'm gonna get changed. Why don't you go out and wait for the bus?"

 

Luke got to his feet without another word, shifting his t-shirt a bit and then slipping on his shoes before walking outside. He was plainly dressed that day, as he didn't have work for himself and he hadn't been doing anything important. He never did anything important, really. With a little huff, he plopped down on the grass where it met the sidewalk and waited.

 

It didn't take long for the bus to show up, and once that door hissed open, two little kids came tumbling out, almost on top of each other in eagerness to leave the vehicle. He snorted, watching as his sister hit the grass after tripping and his brother panting.

 

"Damn, did you two run a marathon?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

 

"Mom said," the girl panted, scrambling to her feet, "not to say bad words!"

 

"Mom's not outside." Luke stuck his tongue out at her.

 

"It's so hot on there!" the boy cried, pointing to the direction the bus had drove off in, "The guy driving wouldn't let us put the windows down! I'm sweaty!"

 

"It's hot out here too, Parker," Luke snorted, taking their backpacks easily in one hand, "so go inside. You too, Alexis."

 

He chuckled as he watched the two little kids run for the house, obviously craving the air conditioning. Luke wasn't really phased by the heat, especially because it was nowhere near as bad as it had been where they lived about a week prior. Not only that, but it was coming to the end of summer anyway. He glanced over at a few trees in their yard and noticed that they were ever so slightly beginning to be tinged with little specks of gold. Fall was coming.

 

When he came back into the house, the first thing he was bombarded with was, "We're gonna go to church?"

 

Luke groaned and shot a glare in the direction of his mother, who just smiled a bit. "Yeah, we are. I'm gonna bring you guys there and drop you off and then never come back."

 

"Luke, no!" The little kids cried.

 

"Luke." His mother shot him a rather parental look that made him roll his eyes, but then she turned to her youngest, "Yes, you're going to church on Sunday."

 

"Are you coming too, mom?" Parker asked.

 

"I can't, honey, I have to work." Their mother sighed, rubbing her hand through his frizzy, dirty blonde hair.

 

"But mom!" The little kids whined.

 

"I'm sorry, you two, I can't." She repeated, though a bit more firm than before. "But I know how to make it up to you two. You can go and have a cookie."

 

As Parker and Alexis hurried to the kitchen to try and grab as many as they could fit into their hands, Luke and his mother shared a quietly understanding look. They didn't like the way they were always busy too, but it happened and they had to make the best of it.

 

"Dude," Luke said as he saw Parker and Alexis try to sneak from the kitchen, their mouths full of a couple cookies and their hands full as well, "save a couple for your sister! And me.... and mom!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm genuinely frustrated. I have so many ideas for when Joseph and Luke's mother meet, and then the kids all meet and things like that, but I can't use them yet because I need some sort of plot development for this to actually be a story. Hence the reason why I use so many skips through things.... Augh! lmao
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Sunday came sooner than Luke would have preferred. He knew that he told his mother he was going with his siblings, and they were excited for it, so he couldn't back down. But as he got out of bed early that morning, he automatically regretted it. He wanted to sleep in. He craved the warmth of his blankets. He didn't have any need to ever leave on Sunday mornings anymore. He didn't work on Sundays.

 

He wandered to his closet after the tiredness began to finally fade away from his body, opening it and pulling out a surprisingly neat white button-up shirt. He hadn't worn it since he was still in high school - it had been used for a school dance. But, it was still his size and had all of its buttons, so he knew it would work fine. His slacks took a little longer to find, as he always tried to avoid wearing them and acknowledging their existence. They were the most uncomfortable sort of pants a person could wear. Then, he pulled out the other articles of clothing he'd need before heading to the bathroom.

 

After a quick shower, he got dressed. Just before leaving the bathroom, he stopped and looked in the mirror. It looked strange, him wearing such clothing. He adjusted his black suspenders and carefully shifted his bowtie. But he couldn't deny that, even though he felt uncomfortable, it wasn't a bad look. His mother had told him time and time again that he was a handsome young man. He didn't like to brag or sound overconfident, but he thought he was too.

 

"Luke?" the older male turned to see his younger brother coming down the hallway, white shirt unbuttoned and looking rather disheveled, bedhead and sleepy eyes prominently standing out against everything else. "Can you help me?"

 

"Sure dude." Luke chuckled, making sure to snag a comb and brush from the bathroom and holding them in his pocket. Then, he knelt down, "Come here."

 

He easily and gently tugged his little brother closer by the front of his opened shirt and kept a small smile as Parker stood still, letting Luke button up his shirt and fix his collar. After a moment, Parker carefully handed his older brother the bowtie and Luke quickly fastened it around his neck.

 

"We match, little man." Luke smiled as he leaned back a little, admiring his brother.

 

"Yeah." Parker giggled sleepily, rubbing an eye.

 

"Okay, go get some cereal," Luke laughed, rubbing his head, "I'll fix your hair in a little bit."

 

As Parker made his way down the stairs, Luke went for his little sister's bedroom. It was directly across from their mom's room, which was of course preferable for little Alexis. She liked to be as close to their mom as possible. However, he slowly stopped at the room between his own and his mother's. On the white door was a sign painted a very light pink. Across the front read, in black painted words, 'Hello! The sign is pink. This means I am either sleeping or not feeling good. Please do not come in unless you are my mom. Thank you! ~ Leah'. With a little sigh, he then kept walking to his little sister's room. When he opened the door, he found Alexis posing in front of a long mirror, giggling.

 

"Hey, Alexis," he laughed as she jumped, whipping around to look at him, "let's get downstairs, okay?"

 

Alexis bounced over to him, taking his hand, "Okay!"

 

As they walked back toward the stairs, Luke cast another glance at Leah's door and then kept walking. It was a shame that he couldn't invite her to do things anymore. He really wished that she could at least go to the store with them sometimes, but she was always so tired and sometimes, lights were too much for her - whether natural or synthetic. It was a shame. He missed her.

 

When he got downstairs, he saw Parker half asleep, eating a handful of cereal out of a baggie. He liked dry cereal. As Alexis hopped onto one of the stools at the island, reaching for a banana, Luke actually managed to get a glimpse at what she was wearing - a white button up shirt tucked into a frilly and puffy black skirt and a bowtie. He stopped and grinned.

 

"Did mom buy you new clothes so that we could match?"

 

The two kids began to giggle, looking at each other and Luke groaned through his ever-present grin. His mother was a sneaky force to be reckoned with sometimes, but just because she caught him off-guard didn't mean he wasn't going to get her back for that. He just wondered how she found the time to buy new clothes.

 

"We look cute!" Alexis pointed out, peeling her banana and quickly stuffing a piece she broke off into her mouth before continuing, mouth full, "Maybe I can get mommy to wear a bowtie next Sunday!"

 

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Luke snorted.

 

As the two little kids ate, Alexis trying to speak to Parker with her mouth full still, Luke went behind them and began to try and neaten them up. He ran the comb carefully through Parker's hair, occasionally dampening it with water from the sink to get the static to go away. Then, he went for Alexis, who whined and yelped through the entire process of untangling her dirty blonde mat of hair. She always did. Thick hair ran in the family and it would never get less painful for any of them to brush their hair.

 

To anyone who would have seen Luke doing what he was, the responses would have been an amusing mixture of confusion, mocking and surprise. No one would imagine a teenage boy, let alone a tattooed, dyed-haired, scarred up teenage boy to take care of his siblings like that. He looked just like the epitome of school drop out and it didn't help that he actually was one, of course. 

 

But he knew that his siblings were very important to him. He wanted them to grow up and be better people than he was and could probably ever be. He didn't want them to drop out of school, get inked up too young, or hurt themselves on purpose. He didn't want them to make the same mistakes that he did. Even though one or two were reversible, the consequences of his actions were not all subject to being able to be changed. No, they were set in stone and he had really messed his life up. Not only his life, but the lives of others and the relationships he could have had with others.

 

"Alright," he shook his head, doing his best to rid himself of the depressing thoughts, as it was too early to be thinking of those, "let's get a move on. We don't wanna be late, do we?"

 

The drive to the church wasn't very long, as they only lived two-ish blocks away. He pulled up and into an empty parking spot in front of the curb, getting out and unbuckling his little siblings from their car seats. They were obviously eager, hopping out and talking excitedly. Luke, however, was looking around. The church was actually decently-sized and that intimidated him a little bit, he had to admit. When he looked toward the front doors, he saw the man he had met the other evening holding them open. He was dressed in a common priest outfit - all black with the little white square on his neck. He was talking to a woman and he looked almost.. strained. But he had that annoyingly pleasant smile on his face all the same. The woman had little kids behind her and one in her arms. He watched as the woman said something and suddenly handed the infant to one of the children and then bid him goodbye. 

 

"She looks scary." Parker said, startling Luke.

 

"Yeah, she kinda does, huh?" Luke responded as he watched the woman head to the parking lot, probably to her car, "I wonder what that was about..."

 

"Let's go inside!" Alexis seemed to be the only one who hadn't payed attention to the confrontation.

 

He chuckled as she grabbed his hand and Parker's, trying to run forward and attempting to drag them along. Luke's firm grip was what kept them walking at a decent pace toward the doors. He looked back toward the man and saw him letting the kids inside. Then, he looked toward Luke and his siblings and that smile came back, but looked so much more genuine than when he was talking to that woman. 

 

"Hello, Luke!" He said happily, extending his hands to clasp around the teenager's, "I'm so pleased to see you could make it. And you brought others!"

 

"Hi!" Alexis offered her hand triumphantly, not afraid of anything because of being in such a good mood.

 

"Well, hello." Joseph laughed, carefully shaking her hand.

 

"Good to see you again... Joseph, right?" Luke chuckled, looking down at the kids, "This is Alexis and Parker. My little brother and sister."

 

"Nice to meet you both," the blonde man spared a gentle smile past Alexis at Parker, who simply waved with a still tired smile, and then he looked back at Luke, "well, let me show you to an empty pew. I hope you enjoy the sermon."

 

"I'm sure we will." Luke said.

 

"Pardon me for being so curious," Joseph said as he walked into the building, the trio following him like lost sheep, "have you ever been to church before?"

 

"We all have," Luke nodded, looking at his siblings, "these two last came when they were only like, four, I think. I last went with my sister when we were nine."

 

"Well, I'm pleased to know my church is the first you've been to in a while," Joseph laughed lightly, walking into the main room, where the pews were sitting, perfectly lined and partially full, "but you have another sibling? Where is she at?"

 

"Ah, she's sick, so at home." Luke chuckled, carefully ushering in Alexis and Parker, who clambered onto the pew seats, sitting on their knees so they could see. 

 

"I'm sorry," Joseph frowned, apparently concerned, "please tell her that I am praying for her and her health."

 

"Of course."

 

As Joseph left to head back to the entrance of the church, Luke understood why he stopped coming to church in the first place. He could never tell if someone was being genuine or just saying things out of habit. His mother attributed that to his trust issues, and that made a lot of sense, but it still made him extremely uncomfortable and he just couldn't deal with it sometimes. 

 

It didn't take long for the church pews to fill up the rest of the way. It was silent as Joseph made his way up to the pew and Luke noticed a few people leaning over to each other and whispering. Churches were just shady places sometimes. He knew not all of them were that way and it totally depended on who went to what church, but still, they could be pretty nasty. 

 

"Good morning, everyone." Joseph's voice was almost oddly serene, yet undeniably powerful, and it quickly caught the attention of Parker and Alexis, who leaned forward and watched him carefully, "I hope you have all had a wonderful week."

 

Luke simply listened as he spoke, leaning back in the pew with his hands clasped in his lap. "I know we have all experienced this in our lives before - frustration. It's a terrible thing, really. And sometimes it stems from something else we are all experienced with... Unpleasant changes."

 

It didn't take much more for Luke to zone out as Joseph began to speak about the effects that unpleasant changes could have on someone. This was certainly something that Luke didn't care to hear. It wasn't like he hadn't heard that sort of speech before from plenty of child therapists and school counselors. Changes weren't good all of the time. In fact, Luke couldn't really think of many positive changes that he had experienced in his life, aside from his father leaving when he was little and then moving to Maple Bay a week or so ago.

 

"... The third stage is usually despair. Another emotion that everyone haunts everyone, even when they are not experiencing it currently. The feeling of total emptiness and loss, the lack of sleep and the lack of normal eating habits, as well as the forgetfulness that comes with praying - all of it can affect anyone... "

 

Luke knew that he should have been focusing, but he was really too tired to do so. He crossed his arms and shifted a little, looking over at Alexis, noticing she seemed to be struggling to see. The people that sat in front of them were not particularly tall, but Alexis was still rather small. Even Parker could see perfectly fine. Silently, Luke leaned over and grabbed Alexis under the arms and plopped her down on his lap. She smiled at him and then returned to listening.

 

The sermon took far too long to end for Luke, but the moment that everyone was 'dismissed', as it were, the two little children burst into an interested conversation about what was said. Luke rubbed his eyes and got up, looking around. As he exited the pew with his siblings, a few people (mainly women) stopped them to tell them how adorable it was that they matched. A middle-aged woman asked if he was their father and Luke almost passed out from embarrassment as he tried desperately to explain that was certainly  _not_ the case.

 

"I can't believe she thought you were our dad," Parker was laughing as they left the church, "that's so weird!"

 

"Wasn't it?" Luke had to laugh a bit himself.

 

"Ah, please wait!"

 

They stopped halfway between the church and their car, looking back to see Joseph walking after them. He looked rather happy, actually.

 

"Did you enjoy the sermon?" He asked curiously, running his fingers through his hair, "I've been asking about. I feel as if it isn't as good as usual."

 

"It sounded fine to me." Luke shrugged, pocketing his hands.

 

"I loved it!" Alexis chirped, bouncing up and down, "I like to learn stuff about God."

 

"I'm glad," Joseph chuckled, relieved, and then smiled down at Alexis, "I love hearing that from the youth! We have a group going on in the afternoons on Wednesdays, if you'd like to come to those. You're all welcome."

 

"Ooh!" Alexis looked at Luke, tugging his hand excitedly, "Please! Please, Luke!"

 

"I can't, Lex," he said with a sigh, "I work that day. Maybe mom can take you guys."

 

"Well," Joseph smiled at them both, carefully putting a hand on Luke's shoulder, "should you ever get the day off, I would encourage you to come in. Even though I pride myself on being able to run it, I would like help occasionally."

 

"I'll think about it," Luke was uncomfortable with the touch, shifting a bit to get his hand off his shoulder, "so we'll see you later, sir."

 

"Please, Luke," the blonde man smiled, not even bothered by the removal of his hand, "call me Joseph. Please."


End file.
